For some, car-free is the way to go

It's Car-Free Week in Massachusetts, and if you haven't gone a day without using a car yet, you still have until Sunday, World Car-Free Day, to "Pick a day and commute another way."

By Susan Spencer TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

It's Car-Free Week in Massachusetts, and if you haven't gone a day without using a car yet, you still have until Sunday, World Car-Free Day, to "Pick a day and commute another way."

The "Pick a day" theme has been promoted by the state Department of Transportation on social media and electronic bulletin boards on major highways as an opportunity to "mode shift," according to a news release.

"Car-Free Week encourages people to bike, walk or take the bus to work or to the store, leading many to discover that doing so is more enjoyable, beneficial and practical than they might think," said Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Richard Sullivan, in the release.

While news of the weeklong promotion of "green commuting" options may be one of the state's best-kept secrets, according to Central Massachusetts transit and bike advocates who hadn't heard of it, people are gradually taking to heart the message that ditching the car can save money, improve health and be better for the environment.

Jude Fernando, an associate professor in the Department of International Development, Community and Environment at Clark University, said going car-free, or at least using cars minimally, is feasible here. But it requires rethinking values and relationships to each other, the automobile and the environment.

Mr. Fernando, a native of Sri Lanka who has lived in the United States for 22 years, said, "I don't have a car. I don't drive. I've never had a driver's license."

Yet he has traveled the entire continental United States, except for Kansas and Missouri, going by Amtrak and Greyhound and Peter Pan buses.

Mr. Fernando said his wife needs a car for her work, but he walks to the university and bikes or takes the bus around town on errands.

He said a few things have to happen to adopt car-free living:

First, communities have to restructure where they build or locate housing and workplaces so people can access public transportation or bike or walk to work.

Second, he said, there has to be a change in lifestyle and attitude.

"People think having a car gives you freedom, which I don't think is true at all," Mr. Fernando said. He pointed to the cost and hassle of maintaining a car, paying for gas and insurance, getting stuck in traffic or coming in to work in a bad mood because you couldn't find a parking space.

"I have a different idea of freedom," he said. "Some people buy a fancy car thinking it's good for leisure, but then they have to work more to pay for it."

And, he said, people have to be willing to take some risks to use public transportation, surrounded by strangers.

Bruce Tretter, a Westboro cooking blogger, education consultant and advocate, was seen riding his bike around town so often, even in winter and years ago with young sons in a child seat, that he was asked to join the Westboro Bike and Pedestrian Ad Hoc Committee.

"It's both philosophy and it's also pragmatic," Mr. Tretter said about his mission to bike more and drive less. "The first reason is health: Health is cumulative. What we eat and how we live makes a huge difference."

Mr. Tretter said he bikes frequently to the grocery store. "It takes about as much time, but I get to exercise too," he said.

Members of the Bike and Pedestrian Committee hope to spread that attitude to more Westboro residents by raising awareness, improving bicycle and pedestrian access and safety in town and building new trails and commuter routes.

The committee has worked to improve crosswalk signs and install reflectors to make crosswalks more visible to cars. With the Department of Public Works, it is aligning storm-drain grates so the grooves are perpendicular to the curb, reducing the risk of catching a thin bicycle tire.

The committee is also drafting a map of safe bike routes so people can get around without biking through high-traffic areas, a concern common to many suburban towns.

And with regional planning agencies it is developing the Boston-Worcester Airline Trail, focusing on 5.5 miles in Westboro. The goal is to connect Framingham to Worcester.

"Fear is the biggest problem to address. To take that leap from fear and making it safer is going to take a lot of effort," Mr. Tretter said. "Part of the way of alleviating fear is providing resources like the safe bike route. That's going to be the hardest thing, adjusting attitudes and behavior. If that can be effective, that will make cycling and using other-than-car transportation more realistic."

Some people, like Webster resident Matthew J. Dupuis Sr., turned to bike and bus commuting — which has become much easier since the Worcester Regional Transit Authority added bike racks to many buses — because they didn't have a car.

Mr. Dupuis straddled his bike as he waited on the platform at the WRTA's Foster Street hub earlier this week to catch the bus back to Webster.

A self-described "jack of all trades," Mr. Dupuis has commuted to Worcester over the past three months for occasional work, doctors' appointments and to visit.

"I'm glad they have bike racks on the bus," he said. "The downside is you can only put two on at a time. I've seen bus drivers have to refuse someone because they didn't have room."

He said there were upsides to bike-and-bus commuting: "It gets me around and I don't waste money on gas. Bottles of water are a lot cheaper."

WRTA Administrator Stephen O'Neil said in an email, "The WRTA has been doing a lot regarding public transportation and getting folks out of their cars and onto the buses."

In addition to putting bike racks on most buses, he said, the WRTA has adopted new technologies to make riding more efficient and user-friendly, including an updated website with bus tracking and schedule information; quick-response codes, to scan with a smartphone, at bus stops; and next-bus arrival information at the new multimodal Foster Street hub.

Amtrak passenger and commuter rail, Greyhound and Peter Pan buses and taxis are also available through the hub, which is next to Union Station.

The WRTA has extended service to midnight so people working the 3-11 p.m. shift can get safely home. It is working with outlying towns, including Paxton, Westboro, Grafton and Northbridge, to start or expand service.

In Westboro, WRTA representatives, the MBTA and town officials are working with large employers to develop a commuter shuttle from the MBTA commuter rail station to office parks on Route 9.

Town Planner James E. Robbins said one shuttle will run from the train station in the morning and three will run to the train in the afternoon, based on commuter rail schedules.

Mr. Robbins said the fleet would include two 24-seat shuttle buses.

"There was great response from employers to use the shuttle," he said. "Based on the initial interest, we'll fill the shuttles."

During the day, the shuttles will serve a fixed route through the center of Westboro, Mr. Robbins said.

It's still too soon to commute by bike from Worcester to Providence, but Megan T. DiPrete, community planner for the Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor, said progress is underway toward that ultimate goal.

Besides the Blackstone River Bikeway's already completed 2.5-mile bike path segment between Millbury and Worcester Crossing, Ms. DiPrete said that work is underway on a 3.7-mile segment in Blackstone, Millville and Uxbridge. More than 10 miles are complete in Rhode Island.

A roughly one-mile "cycle track," separated from the main roadway, is being designed and should be built next year between Worcester's Crompton Park and Union Station, she said.

Contact Susan Spencer at susan.spencer@telegram.com. Follow her on Twitter @SusanSpencerTG